Patriots at Steelers: 3 things we learned

The Pittsburgh Steelers they won’t win without Ben Roethlisberger unless they play error-free football, after losing to the New England Patriots in Week 7.

Too many penalties and turnovers doomed a Pittsburgh offense still loaded with enough weapons to give defenses trouble, even without Roethlisberger throwing the passes.

Those mistakes handed too many chances to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Granted, Brady was also helped by the performance of running back LeGarrette Blount.

He’s a dependable, sneaky good workhorse who affords the Patriots a flexibility unrivalled among NFL offenses.

As for the other side of the ball, the Steelers D’ needs to solve an identity crisis on third downs. Either this is Blitzburgh or a passive, reactive unit content to play contain on football’s money down.

Here’s what we learned about both of these contenders for the AFC throne after Week 7:

1. LeGarrette Blount lends Patriots offense shape-shifting qualities

Blount’s tough running doesn’t just give the Patriots balance. Instead, he lets head coach Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels flip the script week-to-week.

Thanks to Blount, the Pats can go from purveyors of aerial pyrotechnics, winning or losing on Brady’s arm, to classic groundhogs, depending on the opponent and the situation.

The right situation arose for Blount at Heinz Field against a Steelers defense selling out for the pass. With Brady’s receivers struggling for space among Pittsburgh’s zone shells, Blount’s thundering hooves were allowed to take over.

He responded with 127 yards and two touchdowns off 24 carries. The numbers put Blount ahead of some select company in franchise history, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Few teams can flip the switch to play football from different eras quite like the Patriots and their Blount, Brady double act can.

2. Pittsburgh needs to be efficient without Big Ben

Winning without Roethlisberger will always be tough, but it will become damn near impossible if the Steelers keep hurting themselves.

Live Feed

Ebony Bird

Landry Jones was already up against it facing a smart and physical New England defense. The last thing he needed was for the Steelers to commit 10 penalties for 85 yards. Many of those were procedural infractions against the O-line, blunders that killed drives.

Then again, the Steelers didn’t need Jones throwing a needless interception to Malcolm Butler in the first quarter, after Pittsburgh had recovered a Chris Hogan fumble.

Neither the offense nor defense would have been happy to see Chris Boswell miss a field goal to let the Pats off after a shanked punt awarded the Steelers terrific field position in the second quarter.

These are the kind of gaffes teams boasting elite, big-play quarterbacks can make and still win. But the Steelers’ membership to that exclusive club is suspended as long as Roethlisberger is on the shelf.

All Pittsburgh mistakes did this week was waste 149 all-purpose yards from running back Le’Veon Bell, as well as 107 receiving yards from wideout Antonio Brown. Those two can still win games, even without Big Ben. But only if the rest are playing mistake-free football.

The Steelers are headed into a bye week and must use the free time to clean up their act.

3. Third-down defense lacks identity

What is the Steelers defense in 2016 all about? Is it the same chic, fire-zone blitz, trend-setting unit it became when Bill Cowher took over in 1992? Or is it a Tampa 2-style retro-reactive entity now head coach Mike Tomlin no longer has Dick LeBeau calling the plays?

Tomlin and coordinator Kevin Butler have been steering the Steelers toward the latter. Yet whatever the plan was against the Pats, it didn’t work. At least it didn’t on third downs.

Brady’s boys converted seven of 12 times on third down. At one point, only Patriot blunders were sparing the Steelers, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

A big problem was a lack of coherence in the overall strategy. If the Steelers played coverage to get to third down, they abandoned it and went to the blitz. If they were aggressive early, they went passive when it counted.

Next: Patriots at Steelers: Highlights, score and recap

It’s one thing trying to confuse Brady, but Tomlin and Butler shouldn’t overthink it. Defenses know what they do well. These Steelers are more coverage than blitz. Stick to the formula, Pittbsurgh. You’ll be a better defense for it.